Night Blossoms Like Fire

BOOM-Boom-knock. Broke the silence of our home. Was it the sound of the taiko procession making its way through the streets again? Boom-boom-knock, the sound came again. No, not taiko, someone was at the door.

It was Mark with an invitation to head back to the mountain. Our neighbors Justin and Mayumi were gathering a group to head to a park near the mountain. This park is ringed with cherry trees and spot lights to illuminate them in the darkness. That plan was to go hang out in the park drinking sake and enjoying some night blossoms.

We first headed to the grocery store to stock up on snack foods and alcohol. Then it was off to the park. But we did not make it there in a timely fashion. We walked through the streets and near the shrine next to Logan's school we could see, and hear, that there was something happening.

We walked through the still night air. Our peaceful evening stroll was interrupted by the BOOM-BOOM of a giant taiko drum. We could hear it in the distance and as we grew nearer we could see the crowd of people gathered to practice for the matsuri that would be happening in a few weeks time. Most of the people were dressed in their regular clothes; it was a bit weird for me to see students out of their uniforms. There were a group of men all dressed in traditional firefighting clothes, including antique helmets, and special chest plates. It was really cool to see the old way of dressing. But it raised the question of why dress like old time firefighters?

We found our answer soon enough. There were handmade pillars of gathered rice stalks and other dried plant material that towered into the air. They stood twenty feet tall at least. As we grew nearer we could see the torch reach up into the air and ignite the top of one of the half dozen or so sheaves. To the soundtrack of the booming drum the first of them began to burn. The heat radiated and the fire illuminated the dark night. If the booming of the drum was not enough, buried in stalk were firecrackers. As the pillar burned the firecrackers popped and burst punctuating the drum beats.

We stood and watched the fire and marveled in the opportunity to see such marvels. We went over and watched people drumming on the drum, others were watching the fire. We stood witness to the spectacle for a time, but then it was time to mosey along.

We continued up to the park at the bottom of the mountain where Justin and Mayumi were already waiting for us. We all sat down on a ledge at the back of the park and watched the flowers and listened to music that burst forth from the "dollar store" speakers hooked up to Mayumi's ipod. We had not sat for longer than ten minutes when the lights very unceremoniously shut off.

We sat in the dark and talked the late evening away. It was nice and peaceful to visit and commune with our friends and neighbors.
It was fun but bittersweet at the same time. A few more months and most of us will be leaving this place and going different ways. It is amazing to think that we have been here for almost two years now. Even more amazing is the fact that we will soon have to leave and return to start a new life in a new place. We are nervous and excited that another chapter to our adventure filled life will begin when we relocate to Colorado after we get back. We are nervous about what the future holds, but are confident that what ever is in front of us will be an exciting adventure.

Happy Children's Day

We wanted to wish everyone out there a happy Children's Day.  Today is known here as Kodomo no Hi or 子どもの日.  We had a great day of spoiling Logan.  We took him to Saty and bought a Tomica Car, and then over to the mall where we got an Anpanman CD.  After dinner it was time to eat our cake.

 Last year we had a cake that looked like one of the fish flags that flies outside our window.  This year we bought a cake that was shaped like the helmet of a samurai warrior.  We have had a great day as your day is just beginning, so Happy Children's Day.

Picnic in the Clouds

Hachiman Yama is a magical place. All of the fun and exciting things center on the shrine that sits at the base of the mountain. The area is an old fashioned and quaint area that has a classic look to them. The canal that travels around the mountain from Lake Biwa comes near the shrine. The canal is one of the most picturesque areas in town. In fact it is one of the most authentically historical looking in Japan. Film companies will use this area when filming samurai dramas to achieve the appropriate look and feel. We even managed to recognize our own Hachiman Canal one time as we were watching a movie we rented from Tsutaya. We have also made sure to take a photo of the canal from the same bridge for each season.

We knew that the spring photo would have to be one taken during the height of cherry blossom season. Logan also had a real strong desire to ride the cable car to the top of the mountain. We decided that we would have a nice Sunday afternoon picnic at the top of the mountain. We walked from our home to the mountain stopping at the grocery store to pick up some food to eat.

We bought our tickets and hopped on the cable car ready to ride the ropeway to the top of the mountain. The ride to the top takes about five minutes or so and affords a fine view of the whole city. We looked out on the city as we gently swayed in the soft breeze and rode to the top of the mountain. We could hear the sounds of the city, which in today's case happened to be the sound of giant taiko drums beating all around the city.

Once at the top of the mountain we wandered to the backside of the mountain. The area at the back of the mountain is the viewing area. It is a wide swath of ground that looks out over the majestic Lake Biwa. On a clear day it is almost possible to see all the way to Kyoto, but this day the weather was hazy and we had trouble seeing the other side of the narrow lake.

We found a nice spot in the warm sun and laid out our tarp to eat our picnic. We were not the only group who had the same idea. There were about four other groups of picnickers scattered around the observation area. The weather was perfect for enjoying an outdoor lunch. A cool breeze blew through the air but the sun was out and it's rays on our skin kept our skin warm. We ate our lunch there at the top of the mountain. We had stopped to purchase various sandwiches, doughnut holes, drinks and even a slice of tuna, sweet corn and mayo pizza; yum yum.

After eating our lunch we walked back around the crest of the mountain and up to the temple at the top. The temple is a beautiful temple that sits at the very zenith of the mountain. We did not go in and look at all the statuary and regalia. Instead we played our favorite mountain top game of “hey can we see our house from here?” Well I am happy to report that with the help of the 12x zoom lens on our camera we did manage to see our apartment from the top of the mountain. To be honest we had to wait until we got the photos loaded up on the computer at home to see, but we very obviously have a picture of our home taken from the top of the mountain. We talked about all the things we have seen and things that we would see. We listened to the drums beat in the distance and wondered what the pounding was for.

Strange noises are a part of our lives here as I have mentioned before. This time it was the loud beat of the taiko drums that had us wondering what was happening in our little town. Little did we know that we would be finding out later in the evening...